What do top earmarkers talk about in Congress? Does our money go where their mouths are? In the case of... View Article
Continue readingInouye, Obey Promise Earmark Reforms
Roll Call is reporting that Rep. David Obey and Sen. Daniel Inouye, the chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations... View Article
Continue readingNo Time to Read the Bill
Noted curmudgeon David Obey, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, yesterday issued a disobliging statement towards the cause of transparency.... View Article
Continue readingHow to win contracts and influence Congress
Somewhere in America a lobbyist, or maybe a contractor, is writing a book with that title. Lobbyists, freely seeking contracts with little or no restraint, appear to have perfected a system, with their clients, of winning contracts and gaining influence. TPM Muckraker -- posting about yesterday’s Vanity Fair expose on the seedy world of defense contracts (“a window into Babylon or the last stages of Rome”) -- explained the business model of companies seeking contracts in Washington: “First you get the congressman, then you get the earmarks, and then you get the money.”
Continue readingTwo Democrats Seek Public Financing of Elections:
Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) stated that they will push for the public financing of elections in the wake of congressional bribery and lobbying scandals, according to The Hill newspaper. In the House, David Obey (D-WI) and Barney Frank (D-MA) have introduced a bill to allow for the public financing of elections by creating a national campaign fund, funded voluntarily by taxpayers and a tax of one-tenth of one percent of all corporate profits over $10 million. Durbin and Dodd have not suggested what their proposal would look like but have expressed concern that lobbying reform proposals will not fix the source of the corruption, which is the need to fundraise due to the high cost of running elections.
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